it's a painful process. and that vote, because it was so politically painful for members, still having ramifications and being felt in this debate. host: let me take a little pause here for a related voice in this this weekend depending on the senate's schedule we're going to be having a special focus on "book tv" and also on "american history" on c-span3 on the city of charleston, south carolina. we're touring eight southern u.s. cities this fall and learning more about their history, and also about their literary life and authors. charleston the featured city this weekend. while we were there just a few weeks ago, we interviewed former senator fritz hollings. senator hollings, as you know, a generation back, was part of another big debate over federal spending. and out of that came the graham-hollings legislation. we talked to him on camera. here's just a clip of his comments on washington today.

>> nothing gets done. the atmosphere is the game. the game is re-election. you've got to get the money for re-election. in other words in 1998, 12 years ago, i had to spend -- i had to raise, excuse me, $8.5 million. now, $8.5 million is $30,000 every week, each week for six years. it's not just raising money the year ahead. it's raising it for all six years. and you're raising it not only for yourself because your colleagues will help you, the committees will want to keep that seat. so when your time is up. so you are always out there raising money. and the name of the game is make no mistake, play the fence when you get back to washington. got no idea of paying the bill. they haven't paid the bill for 10 years.

host: fritz hollings will be 90 later this year. expressing his frustration. he's part of the many voices we will include in our "charleston weekend" on "book tv" and "american history tv." a story in the "wall street journal" this morning. campaign funds still flowing. the federal government may be strapped for cash. congressmen are hosting hundreds of fund raising events in the weeks surrounding the deficit fight including some tied specifically to the battle over the debt ceiling as their continued rangling pushes the world to possibly fall on its debt next week. bob cusack, your reporters have been watching that. what are you finding out? guest: the fundraisers are continuing to go on. whenever there is a controversy or big bill, there's someone in washington thinking, how can i raise money off of that? we've seen it this week. we've seen e-mails from republicans and democrats trying to raise cash for their campaign

committee. it's a never-ending process. we're obviously in the odd year, the election year. but key is how much money you raise. if you don't raise a lot of money, then media outlets, including ours, will question your viability. you need a lot of money to go on the air. so it's that difficulty where they have to legislate but they also have to raise money. they need money for their campaign ads. it's a very difficult thing. it is very frustrating. former senator hollings was expressing frustration. members do, too. of them really don't like calling people and asking for money. but they have to do it if they in congress. host: back to facebook comments. you can join the conversation there.

host: next a call from south lake tahoe. greg is watching us out there republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say i am a fiscal and social conservative. it occurs to me that this current crisis is a condition of both parties over multiple administrations. and it's not a democratic republican tea party or independent problem. it's an american problem that we must pull the cart forward together with. i think it's a condition of two factors. i think it's obvious that we have out of control spending that needs to be brought under control. but it also occurs to me that there must be some additional

revenue strain. and the notion that somehow taxing at some level, even a minimal level, people at the income that is going to cause them to not participate in the capital formula of this country is just not commensurate with my background and knowledge on these matters. the last thing i'd like to say is that in my opinion relative to the job issue, if we could simplify our corporate tax code and lower it so that it would be more conducive to bringing almost a trillion dollars in capital from overseas back into this country it would stimulate the economy, create an environment where we could create more jobs, and create the america that we want moving forward for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. and i think that this is an issue that's incumbent upon this

administration that needs to come and engage speaker boehner who seems to be extremely genuine, in my opinion, relative to what he's attempting to do. host: ok. let me turn back to bob cusack. greg is advocating revisiting the tax code. at some point that was an aspect of the major plans that were being put forward. so you know whether or not that continues to be? guest: not at the moment. no there are a lot of plan c and plan d. but the grand bargain of a huge have triggers that would potentially trigger tax increases if a huge deal isn't done down the road is really off the table for the moment. so i don't think you're going to see possible tax increases. the polls have shown that the public does favor tax increases for the wealthy. obviously some republicans and most republican leaders, republican leaders up here, do

not support that. they say it would be devastating for the economy. a lot of members on both sides aisle are saying we need to focus on jobs. democrats in particular have put the white house on notice that deal you strike it better create jobs or we're not going to vote for it. i think you're going see a lot of democrats when the deal is done see a surprising amount of no.crats vote host: and this is a piece in the "the washington post" this morning about the c.b.o. who c-span viewers know the reference to it. and the headline, c.b.o. packs an authoritative punch. tuesday afternoon the c.b.o. scoring of speaker boehner's plan changed the outcome. on tuesday afternoon when the congressional budget office announced that house speaker john boehner's proposal for raising the debt ceiling would have saved significantly less than promised, the republicans' response was instantaneous. they backed down. it continues about how the c.b.o. works and when it was created, which was 1974, by a

congressional budget act. roanoke, virginia. good morning to rosemary watching us there on the independent line. you're on the air. caller: yes. the first thing i want to say is i think it's a disgrace to even consider not paying our veterans. the second thing i want to say is i sat down and did a little figure, multiplied the number of representatives by 10,000, and i come up with $4,330,000. that's the ones active anyway, now. the one that are out i guess are not really affecting this. you know. that's a little bit in the budget. instead of picking -- and, the third idea i had was that if they want to give tax cuts, give them to people that keep the

jobs in the market. decrease the tax cuts on the ones that's sending them overseas. host: rosemary with her ideas on how to address the debt problems. question of who gets paid first, itemizing the bill collectors. unless there's an agreement, government will have an estimated $306 billion due in bills in august but only $172 billion in revenue to cover the costs. that means about 44% of the government's bills would go unpaid. and you can see they have a chart of the bills that will come due, the largest is medicare and medicaid, $50 billion. social security at $49.2 billion. defense contractor payments, $31 billion. interest on treasury securities, $29 billion. department of education, $20 billion. federal salaries and benefits, $14.2 billion. unemployment

insurance, $12.8 billion and the list continues. waterford, new jersey. democrat there. good morning to you. caller: good morning, susan. how are you today? host: good. thank you. caller: great. two quick comments. my total disgust at the ignorance of not only so much of the american voters but also the news media that fosters the ignorance. you had a caller on a minute ago talking about tax breaks for companies bringing jobs and income in the country versus shipping them out. in the last year of the democratic controls, house and senate, before the mid-terms, the democrats put a bill up in the house to end the tax give away that allows american corporations like g.e. to have millions and tens of millions of dollars in profit and yet on their tax return they paid zero in federal income taxes. ok?

because the proposal to end that kind of nonsense was by the republicans. it goes on and on and on. the republicans are not doing anybody any favors. one more comment is they beat the democrats in that mid-term campaigning -- yeah. like a red-headed stepchild, over jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. every ad, every microphone, every spot they got it was we're going to create jobs. it took them about a week to change the subject from they're going to fix the economy and get people back to work to deficit and debt. they've changed the subject. no one seems to have noticed. the democrats have gone along with it. and where is the outreach that this party wanted to solve all of these job problems for us and after about a week in office they stopped talking about jobs? no one seems to have noticed. host: all right. thanks for your call. a woman writes on twitter, the

wealthy are not the best and brightest, they are only the most money. they are not owed business subsidies or tax breaks. the gig is up. and back to the list of the 33 undecided, still reviewing, unclear. we read half of it to you. let's pick it up from there. doug lamborn, tom mcclintock, california. tom marino, pennsylvania. jeff miller, florida. devin nunes, california, erik paulsen, ted poe, ben quail, denny rehberg. a couple more names. tim walberg of michigan. kevin yoder of kansas. and don young of alaska. those are the hill's list of 33 undecided republican members of the house. let me return to you for our last comment. we have just a couple of minutes left here, bob cusack what do we know for sure is happening today? guest: well, i went to the house rules committee last night and

the chairman admitted he didn't have a lot of answers. theyif they passed a rule last t that would allow a bill to be changed and immediately addressed. house republicans passed a rule that a bill could be -- would sit for a certain amount of time, 48, 72 hours, and so the public could read it. but in this situation they're going to have to make changes in to get votes so they pass that. where do they go from here? the house republican conference meeting is at 10:00 a.m. that's where they're going to decide what to do. that's going to be a very con tenuous -- contentious meeting. it's also a strategy meeting. where do they go from sneer what do they change? i think it's rallying the troops. but they've been trying to rally the troops all week. last sunday john boehner said it's very important that we unify. he reliesed his bill the next day. and his conservative colleagues started criticizing it. so that's going to be key. so what happens behind closed doors at 10:00 a.m. with house republicans is going to start --

we're going to start to see where they go from here. host: thank you for being with us this morning. guest: thank you. host: we encourage you to go to thehill.com for more of their reporting throughout the day. we have just a minute or so left. let's take another call and tweet as we wrap up here. indiana, brenda, a republican. on the air. go ahead, please. caller: yes. i was calling -- i don't understand, why isn't anybody bringing up about the the $9 trillion that was the federal reserve loss in september of 2009? and the money that the u.n -- that we gave the up unthat lost. and then they just lost more money that they sent overseas. and and they always want to go after the poor and the sick and the elderly, and it's just like majority of people do not even know about you cannot plan for

your death for five years, and that the federal and state takes your money if you're in the hospital 100 days a year and you're on social security. it automatically goes over into medicaid, and whether you're married or not -- host: sorry, brenda, we're out of time here. thank you for your call. one last voice here, james on >> since this warren's although there is some senate news. we're waiting to hear from president obama, who in about five minutes, is expected to make a brief statement.

10:20 a.m. eastern is a schedule time. we're opening up our phone lines and will be for a while. the numbers to call our 202-25 = = = -- the numbers are aren't the screen. -- are on the screen. >> if you have been through any time in the past month, give others a chance. we were writing to hear from president obama, after the speaker's plan was fully debated on the house floor of the poll before any votes could happen. a lot of discussion heading well into the evening last night on with those votes were and how the speaker was going to get the votes to pass them. the house came in this morning at 9:00 a.m. and promptly went out to recess, subject to the call of the chair. which means it is likely there will come back today, but we do not have any further updates on f the bill. we can tell you this about the

senate, they came in this morning at about 9:30 a.m., and they have since gone out, but we understand there will be back at 11:00, and majority leader harry reid will be speaking at noon. he did say today that the democratic -- she did say today that he will move ahead with the debt limit bill as a rival proposal to widen that has stalled in the house. announced that his plan would cut $2.5 trillion from the deficit over a decade and avert a debilitating default. look for more from the senate beginning at about 11:00 a.m. eastern. that of course is on c-span2. let's go to our calls. billings, montana. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say to our representatives in the senate and the house, congress, stop playing games with our future. do your job. do what you were elected to do.

stop playing politics. the general public is fed up with all of you. and if i could fire you today, you would be gone two the -- should be gone. thank you. caller: a call on our republican line. caller: i would say to follow the money. they seem to want to play politics. i agree with the caller before that. i think a lot of people need to be ousted this next election. but i wish somebody would sit down. they say they want to tax the rich like ge and these companies. but people forget how many people have money in these stocks and bonds and everything, with these companies. so if they were to tax them and try to get more money out of them, their stock would drop. portfolios would drop. so the retirees that have money, not only with their social

security be gone from what they also lose any revenue they might have on these bonds. it is a no-win situation. thank you very much. host: i want to show you a tweet from senator harry reid. he said that although the house is not yet voted on boehner's plan, it is clear that plan is flawed. the majority leader plans to bring his plan up on the senate floor as the next step. we're taking your calls and waiting to hear from president obama in the next couple of minutes, live from the white house. it's good to to, , washington, independent line. caller: hello. i would like to say that i think most of these politicians are paid for by the upper 1% of our country. except for maybe a few members of the house. so of course they're going to make it look like a big show, and the media is all too happy to follow along and the people riled up. host: when you say they're bought and paid for, what do you

mean? caller: well, who finds them? to finance their campaigns? that is how they get in office. one representative has been in office since 1976. that is as old as me. host: jonesboro, arkansas on our democrats line. caller: good morning. i am calling because i am very concerned about the debt limit, and my husband is on disability. we are not sure if we are going to be about to pay our rent next month because of the uncertainty about whether or not social security checks will come out on august 3. host: the social security check is essential to pay your rent? caller: yes, sir, it sure is. i wish that speaker bonner would reach out to the democrats -- speaker boehner would reject

the democrats and incorporate revenue into the bill. i think -- i wish that speaker boehner would reach out to the democrats. we need to get this done. dysfunctionalow congress is right now. host: who is your representative in arkansas? caller: tim crawford in the first district. we do not know how he is planning on voting. we do know that he is against raising the debt limit, but he is also in favor of making sure that military veterans and the seniors and the disabled to get their -- get what they need every month. but we do not know how he is really going to vote. host: thank you for calling in. we're waiting to hear from president obama in the next couple of minutes or so. your thoughts on the next step

after the speaker's plan failed to move forward last night after nearly three hours of general debate on the house floor. this stopped the action yesterday evening at about 7:00 p.m. eastern. a lot of discussion but no action on at the bailout snyder this morning. the house is now in recess, waiting to come back in likely later today. let's go to steve in new hampshire as we wait for president obama, on our republican line. caller: i find it interesting the way in which the senate closed this morning. the santa money really of the -- the sanctimony of the senate majority leader talking about compromise and talking about it in pretty personal terms, in terms of his career as an arbitrator, legislator, what have you, and an attorney on the floor, and talked about compromise not being a dirty war. i thought what senator alexander did in closing out the session, reminding them that dead on arrival is not the word of compromise.

it was probably the most effective thing i have seen in terms of the speeches in the senate. host: so this was lamar alexander this morning on the senate floor? caller: that is the way in which responded to senator harry reid's in vacation or what have you that he was the actual great compromiser. he continued to go on and on about how he has spent his entire career as a compromiser. it is not a dirty word. and senator alexander was there to remind him that the words dead on arrival are anything but a compromise. host: thank you for that senate update. we can tell you that as of this morning, the plan was for the senate to come back at about 11:00, and the word is that senator harry reid will bring up his debt reduction from a debt ceiling, and a deficit-reduction legislation today. let's hear from milton, florida, waiting for president obama. this is jon on our independents line.

caller: hello. i am disabled, and i am in a drug program. people are peeing dirty in the program and tax payers are paying for this. but ok, it is not fair to the ones that are trying. they're clean and in doing right. another thing is ssi. people do not pay into ssi. they never work. and they never paid into it. nine times out of tin, there drug users. they use their money for drugs. host: all right. we will let you go there. kentucky, james. what is the name of your city? caller: i live in hillview, a suburb of louisville, ky.

host: all right, what is the way forward here? the house has stalled and the senate this waiting. caller: it is simple. if we had a president like truman or like clinton, he would not hesitate in an emergency like this to use the 14th amendment. that is what if it is therefore, for emergencies. this country is in an emergency now. if we default, it'll be the president's fault for not having the guts to use the 14th amendment to solve this problem, since the tea party and the republicans and democrats cannot agree on anything. that is what it is for. host: arizona, independent line. good morning. caller: i think i have the answer to everything. i think we need a flat tax. host: how would that solve the current situation? caller: let's say you are a billionaire, you make $100

billion, and you make the tax structure 10%. therefore, if you make $10,000, you pay 10%. if you make $100 billion, you pay 10%. and everybody in the country would be paying a straight percentage. the only deduction -- no deductions. the only deduction would be charitable contribution, and that is if -- otherwise your universities, sports, and theaters would go down if you do not have charitable contributions. host: let's go to matthew in dearborn, michigan, republican line. caller: yeah, this is crazy. i mean, no one right now is the uncompromising. the democrats in the house are not going anywhere. boehner has been having -- has not been reaching out to anyone. it is frustrating to watch. it really is. host: who is your representative

there? caller: john conyers. host: have you called his office or e-mailed the office to express your opinion? caller: well, i believe i have tried to send a twitter to his office. that is all i can do. i have tried to call, but you know, it has been busy there lately. host: and you can use twitter to keep track of what some of the lawmakers are saying. we have a number of those at treader.com -- twitter.com/cspan. we have this -- host: we're waiting for president obama to make a statement on the debt talks so far. let's go to indiana. our democrats line. caller: hello.

i know this sounds crazy to everybody else, but i am telling you, i just read something this morning. what to let everybody know, i know whose side i am on. the scripture says the name of the lord is the strong tower. [unintelligible] before destruction, the heart of man is a hardy, and honor is humility. it is a shame unto him. i tell you, we have all this democrat republican thing. you know, if we just realized we need to let mr. obama do his thing and let god do his thing, honey, we're not going to fail. i just had to say that it ought to take the opportunity. bless your heart. host: thank you for calling in. we're taking your calls and comments that you can also go to facebook.com. c-span. we're waiting for president

obama to comment on the debt talks so far. the boehner plan failed to move forward yesterday. they're still working on getting enough votes to pass the bill in the house. it's good to georgia and virginia on our republican line. caller: hello. how're you doing today? look, i just wanted to make a comment on all the debt problems and so forth. everybody who is listening, i want everybody to know everything is going to turn out fine. everything is going to turn out fine. boehner is a fine american who loves america. harry reid is a fine man. he loves this country. and i am asking everybody to -- all senators, congressmen, representatives, before you vote, just take a few minutes. get the bible out and turn to the book of revelations. all the answers are right there.

the have been there for thousands of years. host: an optimistic note this morning. we have a call on our independent line. what is the way forward here now that the bill has sold in the house? caller: the way forward this -- i believe the republicans just have to stand firm, get the democrats to quit spending. we have got to cut the debt. we cannot borrow 40 two cents on every dollar. i am still waiting for the transparency that our president promised us in the election. i have seen no negotiations. and no plan from him. i think we have got to get the government to quit spending money, cut taxes, and let the economy grow. host: the hill is reported to have one, lawmakers said the bad economic news as stocks plunged further. house lawmakers struggling to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling. we are hit this morning with tumbling stocks and a disappointingly slow economic

growth. the nation grew at a sluggish 1.3% rate in the second quarter, well below expectations and not nearly enough to lower the nation's 9.2% unemployment rate. that is from the hill this morning. in dayton, ohio, are democrats line. we're waiting for the president t.out calle i am going to put on hold. make sure to mute your television. we will come back to you if we can. clinton is in upton, utah, republican line. i do not think that is utah. here is your top. go ahead. caller: my thoughts are simple. instead of pointing fingers and saying the others are lying, let's start -- [unintelligible]

right now, boehner wants to go six months. harry reid wants to go until march 20, 2013. why don't we just go unti march 2012 andl. we can use the next 12 months to figure out a good plan to reduce everything down. is that the budget up so it is looked at every few years and reestablish on raising the ceiling. this is needed. we do not have enough time to have a settled to where there's 20 years of debt. income raises and everything like that. or they can pretty much have a pretty good idea on how to raise the ceiling. if we all sit down and tell our congressman, do it a year. but six months of that, they

have to come up with a better plan to reduce everything and make it toward taxpayers are satisfied and the nation is satisfied. it will help establish everything in our economics. host: we are waiting to hear from president obama this morning. he was sent to speak 10 minutes or 15 minutes ago on the debt situation. this after the boehner plan failed to move forward last night in the house. it is likely the senate will take of the harry reid plan. we're taking your thoughts and getting to your phone calls as best we can. we're going to go back to dayton, ohio, democrats line. caller: of like feedback on these social security comment. the lady said that they should snatch our ssi because half of the people are on drugs. what about the mental illness? host: are you concerned that any of these debt plans will touch

social security at all? caller: i am worried about them taking it, because there are a lot of people out there that really do need it. i think they should go ahead and sign it and get it over with. host: next, the independent line. new york. caller: i just have a little note from millions of disgusted americans for congress. and it reads, dare congress, last year by mismanaged my funds and this year my family and i cannot decide on the budget. until we have come to a unified decision that fits all of our needs and interests, we had to shut down our checkbook and will no longer be able to pay our taxes. i am sure you'll understand. thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow. host: how do you think it is going to be received? caller: personally, i do not care. what is going on is absolutely disgusting. to go after, as they call them,

entitlements that people are using to try and survive, there are no jobs out there. there millions of unemployed that no longer get unemployment benefits, still cannot find a job. they have used every single penny that they have. i mean, they're getting evicted. i just do not understand what is wrong with our congress. host: anybody in your family unemployed? caller: yeah, me, for three years now. host: we appreciate you taking the time to call in. we're looking at the white house and waiting on the president to comment on the debt situation. we are a couple days away from the august 2 deadline or the u.s. will reach the statutory limit of $14.30 trillion. here's a call on our republican line in florida. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about an idea on how we could take the

federal government and go into some kind of a product industry worldwide. take, for instance, the movie industry. "harry potter" just a light $400 million the first day. can you imagine that going to the deficit? it could be anything from number two pencils to the food industry. the food industry, things like campbell's. no, there are some areas -- host: how does this work? the profits of these ventures would go to pay down the debt? caller: yes, sir. there would also create employment, too. the federal government would have to sponsor the project. host: staying in florida, on our independent line. caller: i am a 62-year-old single woman on social security disability. a man called your show the other

day that said people on social security should tighten their budgets -- host: here comes the president. we're going to let you go there. thank you. >> i am here to speak about the ongoing and increasingly urging -- urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit. right now, the house of representatives are still trying to pass a bill that a majority of republicans and democrats in the senate have already said they will not vote for. it is a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to washington politics once again. in other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law. what is clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan. it must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people. not just one faction. it will have to have the support of both the house and the

senate. and there are multiple ways to resolve this problem. senator harry reid, a democrat, has introduced a plan in the senate that contains cuts agreed upon by both parties. senator mcconnell, a republican, offered a solution that could get us through this. there are plenty of modification we can make to either of these plans in order to get them passed through both the house and the senate and would allow me to assign them into law. today, i urge democrats and republicans in the senate to find common ground on a plan they can get support from both parties in the house, a plan that i can signed tuesday. keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart. we are in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. we agree on a process where the next step is the debate in the

coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform but i am ready and willing to have that debate. if we need to put in place some kind of an enforcement mechanism to hold lazzelle accountable for making these reforms, i will support that, too, if it is done in a smart and balanced way. so there are plenty of ways out of this mess. but we're almost out of time. we need to reach a compromise by tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time, as we always have. bills that include monthly social security checks, veterans benefits, and the government contracts we have signed with thousands of businesses. keep in mind, if we do not do that, if we do not come to an agreement, we could lose our country's aaa credit rating. not because we do not have the capacity to pay our bills. we do. but because we did not have a gerbil a political system to match. -- because we did not have a aaa political system to match our aaa credit rating.

for those who say they oppose tax increases on anyone, and lower credit rating would result potentially in a tax increase and everyone in the form of higher interest rates on their mortgages, their car loans, their credit cards, and that is inexcusable. there are a lot of crises in the world that we cannot always predict or avoid. hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks. this is not one of those crises. the power to solve this is in our hands. and on a day when we have been reminded how fragile the economy already is, this is one burden we can lift ourselves. we can end it with a simple vote, of both the democrats and republicans have been taking for decades. a vote that the leaders in congress have taken for decades. it is not a vote that allows congress to spend more money. raising the debt ceiling simply gives our country the ability to pay the bills that congress has

already racked up. i want to emphasize that. the debt ceiling does not determine how much more money we can spend. it's simply authorizes us to pay the bills we already have racked up. it gives the united states of america had the ability to keep its work. monday night i asked the american people to make their voice heard in this debate, and the response was overwhelming. so, please, to all the american people, keep it up. if you want to see a bipartisan compromise, a bill that can cast -- pass both houses of congress and the that i can sign, let your members of congress know. megaphones call, send an e-mail, tweet. keep the pressure on washington. and we can get past this. for my part, our administration will be continuing to work with democrats and republicans all weekend long until we find a solution. the time for putting party first is over. the time for compromise on behalf of the american people is

now. and i am confident that we can solve this problem. i am confident that we will solve this problem. for all the intrigue and all the drama that is taking place on capitol hill right now, i am confident that common sense and cooler heads will prevail. but, as i said earlier, we're now running out of time. it is important for everybody to step up and show the leadership that the american people expect. thank you. >> president obama at the white house, commenting on the status of legislation on capitol hill on the debt ceiling and gives the reduction. speaker boehner's plan stalled last night after the debate. they do not have the votes to move forward yet. senator harry reid has said he will move forward with his plan in the senate. and about 20 minutes, will take you live just outside the senate. the democratic caucus has been

meeting. we hope to hear some comments from democratic senators. we will continue to take your phone calls as we can. we will get your phone calls in a bid on the lines we have been using. we also want to show you the comments of senator harry reid and senate term mcconnell this morning as the senate opened up. they are coming back in at 11:00 a.m. eastern, and reportedly will take at harry reid's legislation could lead to what the senate leaders had to say this morning. >> mr. president, although the house of representatives have not yet voted on speaker boehner's plan, that plan is flawed. that is why have they struggled for days to pass this legislation without a single democrat even being involved in the process. and going forward, looking only to republicans. but as this battle to pass a continuing resolution went forward -- [unintelligible] republican leadership realized that there were unable to get

the necessary votes, and they reached out to democrats. speaker boehner had to look to democrats. he did not have enough votes. obviously, he should look to the democrats again. that is the way we need to move forward on something that is bipartisan. that is how it is supposed to work. democrats and republicans working together for our country. a band-aid approach, a world crisis that is an embarrassment to congress and frankly to the country and to the world. that is a sad commentary. united senate democrats, all 53 of us, have informed the speaker his legislation was doomed in the senate because we would not vote for short-term extension of the debt ceiling. it would put our great nation on the path to another default extravaganza which we have experienced so much in the last few weeks.

virtually every expert on comets, rating agencies, market analyst for the have said the kind of short-term plan the speaker has proposed is no answer to the crisis republicans have done. they have created if we are trying to cover the kind of financial calamity befalls would bring, republicans plan is not a solution i had it is a brief conversation with secretary geithner. right now, the businesses cannot borrow -- big businesses survive on moving money from bonds and other things to do this. that is how the world economy works. they cannot borrow more money overnight, because no one knows with the interest rate will be tomorrow. so the republican plan is not a solution. as experts say, all too soon, we will be back in the midst of

partisan wrangling, with our economy held prisoner by extremists in the republican party, led by the tea party. our economy cannot bear this kind of certainty -- uncertainty any longer. congress and white house on what down. the business of the country is now being conducted. i would say no, not again. will we fight another battle like the one in which we're now engaged. we cannot do that. that is why short-term extension is not what we need, and it is not what this congress will do. default is not an option either. but we cannot wait for the house any longer. it is time for republicans to stop the political games and embraced a compromise. no matter how long it republicans delay, the deadline will not move. we have ours. i repeat, hours. that is why by the end of the

day to day, i must take action on the senate's compromise legislation. legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion out of the deficit -- deficit over the next decade. it would protect social security and medicare without raising a penny of revenue. the question is, will today's republicans break away from the shrill voice of the two-party and return to the republican party of ronald reagan? this is likely a last chance to save this nation from the default. i have invited senator mcconnell to sit down with me and to negotiate in good faith. the clock is running down. i hope he will accept my offer. i cannot do this alone. there are only 53 of us. under the rules that republicans to put in place, it is to be used sparingly but is used all the time now, you need 60 votes. the majority is not good enough. i know the senate compromise bill democrats have offered is not perfect in the eyes of the

republicans. it is not, certainly, perfect in the eyes of the democrats. but together, we must make it work for all of us, because it is the only option. sitting on it -- it will not give either party everything at once. john mccain, republican senior senator from arizona, president obama's opponent in the last election, has asked his party to compromise. he did it here on the senate floor. he said, it is not fair for the american people to hold out and say we will not agree to raising the debt limit. he called the radical republican approach unfair and bizarro. it is time we listened to the markets he said. it is time to listen to the american people and sit down and seriously negotiate. senator fred thompson, a republican, asked a member of his own party to come to their senses. he said, i respectfully suggest

that you rake in your chips and stuff them in your pockets. he said that. he believes they have already won. all discretionary spending, their revenue. some hope my friend, senator mcconnell, will come to me by the end of the day to move the process along. my door is open. i will listen to any idea to get this done in a way that prevents the default and a dangerous downgrade for our country's credit rating. time is short, and that is an understatement. too much is at stake to waste even one more minute. the last train is leaving the station. this is our last chance to ever to default. the vote on this compromise will determine whether we enter the fighting world of the fall. a vote for the senate compromise, a vote on the financial obligations of this great nation to pay the bills, i would ask my republican friends, break away from this thing going on in the house of

representatives. they're going to vote at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, 6:30 p.m., a 30 p.m. -- that finally quit. rumors flying around, mr. president. rumors flying around. the "wall street journal" said they put too much money in for bell corporation -- for pell grants and they're going to take that out. rumors going around. that the speaker was seen in my office. all these rumors, mr. president, that made no sense. and the scariest thing is that late last night, a leader cantor city have three choices. boehner, kuchar, cap, and balance, or default. that is the second time a leader in the republican leadership said that. we need to honor the frontage obligations we have is a country. so a vote against a compromise that i have talked about -- listen to what my compromises, mr. president.

no revenue. congressional budget office has more than $2.4 trillion, which will take us to march of 2013. we can do the country's business. there is a joint committee that will be set up to see if we can do some good work on a more long-term approach, and a good back to work doing our country's business. i repeat, cbo, omb, has scored our bill for more than $2.4 trillion dollars. not billion. it is trillion dollars. the speaker said he wants to reduce the debt. so a vote against this compromise will be a vote to default on the full faith that the credit of the united states. i repeat to everyone, we have the framework of a bill. we're going to change it. i have some ideas that we need

to change not want to discuss them with the republican leader. if anyone has any other ideas, come to me. but the time has come to make a decision. time factors are very clear why am i doing this tonight on my bill? because there's no more time. i have to do it tonight. what i like to wait until tomorrow to see if there's some good will the comes from the republican side? of course. but i suggest to my friends on the other side of the aisle, this is a pretty good deal. as fred thompson said, they have done everything they wanted to put those ships in their pockets and walk away and declare victory. i mean, no time left to vote on another bill or consider another option. this is our last best chance to reserve the character and a credit of our great nation. >> i have a little different take on what has been happening over the last few days that my good friend the majority leader and his colleagues.

let me explain what has been going on in congress this week. the american people have been waiting on us to do something to prevent default. they want us to end this crisis right now. over in the house of representatives, you have the speaker of the house doing his job. speaker boehner has been doing more hard work of governing, working day and night to put together a bill that can actually passed the house of representatives and end this crisis now. you should be commended for his efforts. what about over here in the senate? well, the contrast cannot be more stark. rather than working the last few days towards a solution to this crisis the with the republican majority in the house as, the democratic majority in the senate has been wasting precious time rounding no votes to keep this crisis alive. rather than being responsible and coming up with a bill that can actually pass, the have been busy signing people up for the not enough caucus and getting opposition to everything else.

lawmakers should be working in solution to the crisis, not blocking strategy. our democratic friends here in the senate have offered no solution to this crisis that could pass either chamber. not one. instead, all day long yesterday we got chest-thumping comments about how we are going to kill any piece of legislation that comes over from the house, that is dead on arrival. democrats are out bragging about how they're going to prolong the crisis instead of doing the hard work of trying to solve it. that includes the president. look, if the president had not decided to block the bipartisan solution and members of congress worked so large a produce last weekend, we would be voting to end this crisis today. instead, democrats in congress are still talking about blocking a solution to the crisis, and the president is rolling out new mileage standards today. let me repeat that. here we are, a few days from when the secretary of the treasury says we will be in a

default situation, and the president of the united states is rolling out new mileage standards today. how about this, how about a plan from democrats in washington that can pass both changes, prevent the crisis, and protect americans from a worsening economy? i would suggest to my friends on the other side this morning, these are taking their responsibilities as the majority party in little more seriously. because at this point, the only people who are disregarding the consequences of a default are senate democrats, not the republicans in the house, but senate democrats. republicans have been doing the hard work of governing this week. it is about time our democratic friends join us. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> the senate leaders from earlier this morning. we're waiting to hear possible comments from members of the senate democratic caucus after their meeting this morning. we will take you there live in the comments get underway. we also understand the senate

will come back in at 11:00 eastern. later today, they will consider harry reid's debt ceiling and deficit reduction plan. we're also waiting for the house to possibly come back in. there is some news on that. the ap is reporting that according to one other sources, speaker boehner is going to change the stalled bill with a vote as soon as today. and a member of the hill has tweeted that the house gop will attach a balanced budget amendment to boehner's that bill and vote on it today. your phone to get to calls as we can here, waiting for senate democrats. first, we want to show you the comments from just a few minutes ago by president obama. >> i want to speak about the ongoing and increasingly urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit. right now, the house of representatives is still trying to pass a bill that the majority

of republicans and democrats in the senate have already said they will not vote for. it is a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to washington politics once again. in other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law. what is clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan, must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people. not just one faction. it will have to had the support of both the house and the senate. and there are multiple ways to resolve this problem. senator harry reid, a democrat, has introduced a plan in the that contains cuts agreed upon by both parties. senator mcconnell, a republican, offered a solution that could get us through this. there are plenty of modifications we can make to either of these plans in order

to get them passed through both the house and the senate and would allow me to sign them into law. and today, i year urged democrats and republicans in the senate to find common ground on a plan that can get -- i urge democrats and republicans in the senate to find common ground on a plan that they can is support for both parties in the house. this is not a situation or the two parties are miles apart. we are in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. we agree on a process or the next step is the debate in the coming months and tax reform and entitlement reform. i am ready and willing to have that debate. if we need to put in place some kind of an enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, i will support that, too, it is done in a smart and balanced way. so there are plenty of ways out of this mess. but we're almost out of time.

we need to reach a compromise by tuesday, so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time, as we always have. bills that include monthly social security checks, veterans benefits, and the government contracts we have signed with thousands. keep in mind, if we do not do that, if we do not come to an agreement, which to lose our country's aaa credit rating. not because we do not have the capacity to pay our bills. we do. but because we did not have a aaa political system to match our aaa credit rating. and make no mistake, for those who say they oppose tax increases on anyone, a lower credit rating would result potentially in the tax increase on everyone in the form of higher interest rates on their mortgages, car loans, their credit cards, and that is inexcusable. there are a lot of

in the world we can avoid, terrorist attacks, this is not one of those crises. the power to solve this is in our hands. on a day when we have been reminded how fragile the economy already is, this is one person we can lift ourselves. we can ended with a simple vote, a vote that democrats and republicans have been taking for decades, a boat that leaders in congress have taken four decades. it is not a boat that allows congress to spend more money. raising the debt ceiling simply gives our country the ability to pay the bills that congress has already racked up. i want to emphasize that. the debt ceiling does not determine how much more money we can spend. it's simply authorizes us to pay the bills we already have racked up. it gives the united states of america the ability to keep its word. on monday night, i ask the

american people to make their voices heard in this debate and the response was overwhelming. police, to all the american people, keep it up. if you want to seek a bipartisan compromise, a bill that can pass both houses of congress and that i can sign, let your members of congress know. make a phone call, send an e- mail, tweet, keep the pressure on washington and we can get past this. for my part of our administration will be continuing to work with democrats and republicans all weekend long until we find a solution. the time for putting party first is over. the time for compromise on behalf of the american people is now. i am confident that we can solve this problem and i am confident we will solve this problem. for all the intrigue and the drama that has taken place on capitol hill, i am confident that common sense and cooler heads will prevail.

we're now running out of time. is important for everybody to step up and show the leadership that the american people expect. thank you. >> president obama at the white house a few minutes ago talking about the status of the debt discussions on capitol hill. the house last night failed to move forward with speaker john boehner's plan and recommend this morning but no action so far. they are in recess subject to the call of the chair. there are looking -- you are looking at the hallway outside the u.s. senate as reporters wait to hear from possible comments from senate democrats. the caucus has been meeting this morning. harry reid announced the senate will take up his plan today and the senate should be an shortly if they are not in already for morning business and more debate. while we wait to hear from our phone lines again. the numbers are on your screen

we will get to what we can and we appreciate your patience wedding on the line. fall river, mass., go ahead caller: since the president is asking how the american people feel, a letter came through the internet that i totally agree with. i would like to share it with your audience. host: where did you read this? are you reading something from the internet? where did you get this? caller: on the internet, it came through. host: is it a news source? caller: no, it is not. dear mr. president, i heard you will say you will not guarantee social security checks if the debt ceiling is not raised and we default. why is it the scare always have to do with social security,

medicare, and our soldiers' pay? why not stop your peg, your staff, or congress and the senate to save more money for our country? why do you used seniors, soldiers, and our needy as examples? instead of threatening to withhold social security and disability payments for people who need the money, let's hold the paychecks of all house and senate members then see how fast they resolve the debt ceiling crisis. host: thank you for waiting in. let's go to our democrats from anderson, south carolina. caller: our you? host: doing fine. caller: the social security -- i am speaking on behalf of my mom and me and my dad and millions of americans, people out here --

if i lose my social security, i won't have a home. i want have any means of getting food. as far as medicare and medicaid, i am disabled. i would lose everything and i would be in the hospital in a matter of days because i need my medicine. host: tuesday is the deadline where the u.s. reaches the $14 trillion statutory debt limit. we are looking at a gathering of reporters outside the senate at their wedding for comments from democrats after their caucus. you can follow with members of congress are saying online and what members are tweeting. we have put a list on their of members of congress and their thoughts. here is one --

next, independent line, go ahead caller: i am a widow and on social security. they take this away, i will not have nothing to live on and i will lose my home. i will lose it all. please don't take it away from us. i'm 62 years old and my house is not the best. liken't afford to live this pretty preside. they have to take a cut in their pay on capitol hill. host: north dakota on our republican line. caller: i am really tired of everyone schering the elderly

and threatening everyone's pay. we are active duty military and want you to know that we have already been paid for the first. that was a scare tactic. why is that they are calling the republican party the party of no when the senate has put nothing through. ? they tell senator harry reid not to bother sending your bill because it is dead on arrival. host: the status of where things are -- speaker boehner's plan failed to move forward last night and the house went into recess. there was a lot of discussion and members are meeting in leaders' offices last night and nothing moved forward last night or this morning as the house can briefly. they are in recess now and subject to the call of the chair which means they could come back anytime. the senate will move ahead with the perry replanted he announced that earlier.

-- the senate will move ahead with the harry reid plan that he announced earlier. california is next, caller: how's it going? host: i am doing fine. caller: i am 21 years old and i am on my mind and i work. when i get older and unable to retire, will i be able to depending how this economy is? it is not fair for the elderly to be suffering so much. they need to make their mind up. host: how old are you? caller: 21. i have worked since i was 14. host: do you set aside money for retirement outside of was taken out for social security? caller: right now, i am barely getting by. i pay my own bills and i am

living on my own. host: thank you for taking the time to join the conversation. everett, washington, democratic line is next. caller: the cuts, cap, and balance -- i don't mind the cuts but it means as more people are retiring also security, the bills get higher and higher and the republicans want to cut that down to 18%. that means it will affect social security and medicare. that is very important for people to understand the republicans have been trying to kill social security and medicare for years. that is my comment, thank you. host: republican line is next in macon, georgia. caller: thank you for taking my call.

i want to make a couple of quick points. i really resent the word ' entitlement' in reference to social security and medicare. i paid into those systems for 38 years from the work force and now i have a myriad of health problems including leukemia and i am counting on that to provide for my family and i would be disappointed with our congress if they decided to cut or do away with social security, medicare. there are so many areas in a government that can be cut where there is wasteful spending. i served in the military for eight years and was proud to do so. i worked hard and did not ask for these medical problems. i need that assistance now and having paid into it for 38 years, i feel like i am entitled

to it. host: we will continue with calls here on c-span and we are waiting to hear from senate democrats after their caucus meeting this morning. we're also waiting to see if the house will come back in today. it is likely they will and we will have live coverage for you here on c-span. other events are going on in washington. the world bank president is speaking at an event earlier today and he said he felt congress was playing with fire and that americans should be embarrassed by the debate happening. we want to show you his comments from earlier this morning. >> the world bank is a pretty big unsophisticated organization

and we operate in economies around the world. people are trying to come up with contingency plans, and people have to recognize that this is taking place in a context where you still have the bureau's own in serious difficulties. they put together a package but it is an ongoing process. japan has been struggling to recover from growth for a long parade of time had a terrible natural calamity. you have the environment that was already fragile coming out of the financial crisis which many of you know was also before the food and fuel prices. in an environment where the tools that people used in to douse an aide of spending policies and monetary policies, they have basically run their course. this is a context in which

whatever one's logic is about the tactics, it is a very dangerous environments. to have a debt default of the united states. that would not only be a financial calamity but it should be an embarrassment for every american. there is a medium and long term that i spend time reflecting on the bank has 187 shareholders. our clients are primarily the developing countries and the emerging markets. what is striking is we are in an environment where the nature of the recovery from a crisis is a multi-speed. most of the developing countries of which i work, the challenge is now one where their growth has recovered so well that the danger is more overheating or asset price bobbles where the developed countries are struggling with spending, debt, large-scale unemployment.

this creates a tension in the international system. the world bank came out of world war two when people were trying to learn the lessons of economic calamity in the 1930's. you need some system that deals with trade and development and exchange rates and capital flows with security. in a sense, that system is now in a state of flux because these emerging markets now represents half of global growth. in the 1990's, the might have been in the 20%. this has happened relatively fast and the relevance of what is going on in washington or europe or tokyo these days is people are trying to decide what should be the rules for the expectations of this system. others have to say that for people and the developing countries that i work with, is a

little bit of a disappointment and frightening to see the united states with some people have an admiration for and some people say maybe it has been too pushy but to see it basically turned on itself as a troublesome prospect. whether you are in africa or china or elsewhere, the bigger picture here is a combination of dealing with the subsequent challenges that the u.s. or europe or japan face and also a sense about what role they will play in shaping this future international system that has some incredible opportunities. you don't have to look at gloom and doom. africa has grown on an average of 5% for a decade and there are lots of opportunities there. private capital is going there and china has grown 9.9% over 30 years. it depends how you look at the world that there are great opportunities but they have to be seized in have to figure out

how developed and emerging markets work together in a different way than in the past. host: zellick, the president of the world bank this morning. you can see that on c-span.org. the government reports this morning that the economy grew at 1.3% in the second quarter. the senate has come back in there and you can follow that on c-span 2 with the indication from majority leader reid that they would take up his plan today. we are waiting to hear from senate democrats. the caucus has been meeting this morning and reporters are gathered and we're waiting and will have those comments should they come out and speak to reporters. as for the house, no word on when they will gal -- gavel back again. here is a tweed --

you can follow these tweaks twitter.com/cspn and you will see less of members of congress that you could follow some of the thoughts of the reporters and the members who participate. let's get back to the phones. barrington, ill., go ahead. caller: i tried to keep up with mr. zellick. i appreciate all the education. justice sandra day o'connor, that americans are severely illiterate. i have a problem with the media.

i have asked, the times president bush presented a plan to congress for his numerous increases in the debt. my representative is a isdad. he has foreclosed on a second home. i have a problem and i am very insulted that he has called our president a liar and he was rewarded with $400,000 into his coffer and he has just arrived in washington, d.c. in january 2011. host: who is your representative? caller: mr. joe walsh who is the media darling for everyone out there. nbc, cbs, abc -- on his web

claimed he was a small business honor. he was asked what his small business was. he skated around that. he never answered. host: do you know what his business is? caller: i never knew he had a business but he is a liar anyway. host: let's go to where democrats line next. from new york city. we'll put you on hold. please on your television. next is the republican line in southeast kansas. caller: good morning. thank you, cspan. we are very faithful cspan supporters. this is a comment for everyone to sit back and for the first time in our history we are able to actually watch our house and

congress and our government work at processing something that will benefit all americans. we come from a small town in kansas where it is community- oriented and everyone works together to be successful. my wife and i on a personal company and we have plenty of jobs poor folks that are willing to change their mind and accept a new challenge. i see that happening today. i am so excited. god bless america and cspan. host: you said you have plenty of jobs. where are you seeing the growth in jobs for your company? caller: it is dropping. we are nationwide and we have the jobs. -- it is trucking. we own red leaf corporation.

you can contact us and we can put people through school and get them the jobs and go out and make a living where benefits are still available. host: thanks for weighing in. back to new york, hi there. you're on the air. caller: i am donna kilborn. host: this is cspan. you have any comments to make? caller: how many people are still drawing unemployment that to be working and looking for jobs? there is one thing that we have been bankrupt as the europeans have tried to do with all of our bad weather and our forests and

also we have a need for a lot of foreign aid going to those people. they have not mentioned it. if we drew in some of that money, we would have enough. for our armed forces and everybody else that needed help in this country. there is no reason for this. they don't like is there. they fight us and throw it at us and we do not need all that. god only knows how much it is. host: the senate has come back in and we're waiting to hear from the democratic caucus. senator durbin said we are hearing a house won't get to its plan until the early evening hours. that was earlier today. here is a politco tweet --

let's get back to calls from pennsylvania on our independent line. caller: good morning. i am 100% a disabled veteran and on the 27th, they put the money in the back from the federal government. i want to tell everybody that. host: the concern of not being paid -- someone earlier said that. your pen and has been made. caller: it was made on the 27. i want to take you. inst: let's hear from nick, clarksville, tenn., democratic line. caller: i am a 49-year-old disabled veteran that happens to be blind. i served six years. i happen to live with my two brothers who are also disabled. we are on ssi, 674 per month

and we have to live together to pay the bills. ssi has not been paid yet. my brother's father worked 50 years and paid into social security so he could draw his survivor benefits. he is entitled to that, that is why they call it entitlements. if republicans could go in and not raise taxes but close tax loopholes, do away with their pet projects, and do away with duplicate government agencies, we don't need an atf. the fbi does firearm background checks for firearm sales. bomb squads would be taken over by local state and government policing authorities. we don't need an atf or a federal department of education. each state has the department of

education those programs can run through and why are we sending money to buy cotton institute in brazil when that money is needed in the united states? host: thank you for that. we are waiting to hear from democratic senators. the caucus has been meeting this morning in the senate has come back again and we will take up harry reid's deficit-reduction plan after the house failed to move forward with speaker boehner's plan last night. we'll get to more of your calls momentarily. florida, republican caller, welcome. callmake sure you knew your television. -- mute your television. caller: most of my family are republicans. all of us are amazed at the type

of fighting going on. negotiating seems like a bad word. even though we really have different views between all of us on who is the adult in the room, we are very surprised how extreme our republican leadership is being led around by the nose by the extreme right wing. some of what they say is right but the idea that you want to fix things by bringing down the house -- it does not make sense. problem and instead of working on that problem, the energy is not focused. we are seeing that this will hurt the part of us that are republicans. it will even heard how we live

and how we can afford things. we just don't understand we understand why people with money don't want to let go of making so much money but we don't understand how anyone could look at it like all of us that are on social security or getting near it would need that desperately especially now, why that would be on the table. maybe they would not totally dismantle social security and medicare but they will damage it. host: we have had calls concerned about the future of social security. is your concern that either the john boehner plan or that are read plan will affect was coming to you or future negotiations over the budget and the debt ceiling will decrease your benefits? caller: i would have to read the entire bel pre of from what i have seen of the harry reid plan, it seems lopsided.

i am ok but i have to be careful every single month. one of my family members is a strong republican member. he is on all kinds of social programs to help him get by. he can barely make it. a lot of it has to do with his health and he is even surprised that none of the wealthiest people, the leadership representing the wealthiest people, don't want to even tap into -- i know some very wealthy people that if they gave a little more, their lifestyle would not change anyway and they would still save money every month host: thank you for joining in the conversation. more to come as we wait to hear from democrats after their caucus. the senate will take up majority ceiling and's debt

deficit reduction plan. we want to show you the opening comments this morning from harry reid and his counterpart mitch mcconnell. >> as this battle to pass a continuing resolution went forward, republican leadership realized they were unable to get the necessary votes and they reached out to democrats. speaker bayer had to look to democrats because he didn't have enough votes. that is the way we need to move forward. that is how it is supposed to

work. democrats and republicans working together for our country. the band-aid approach, the world crisis is an embarrassment. two, press and the country and the world. that is the sad commentary. united said the democrats come all 53 of us, have been for the speaker that his bill was doomed in the senate because we would not vote for a short-term extension of the debt ceiling. it would put our great nation on the path to another default extravaganza. we have explained that in the last few weeks. frankly, that extravaganza would start in a matter of weeks again. virtually every expert in congress, rating agencies, have kind of short-term plan the speaker has proposed is no answer.

if we are trying to avert the kind of financial calamity and defaulto fall would bring, the republican bill is no solution. i had a sobering conversation half an hour ago with secretary of the treasury tim geithner. right now, the businesses cannot -- big businesses who survive on moving money for bonds and other things, they can't borrow more money because no one knows what the interest rate will be tomorrow. the republican plan is not a solution. as experts say, all too soon would be back in the middle of partisan wrangling with our economy held prisoner by extremists in the republican party led by the tea party. our economy cannot bear this kind of uncertainty any longer.

congress and the white house are in lock down and the business of the country is not being conducted. not again will we fight another battle like the one in which we are now engaged. we cannot do that. that's way short-term extension is not what we need. it is not what this congress will do. default is not an option either. we cannot wait for the house any longer. it is time for republicans to stop the political games and embrace a compromise. no matter how long republicans alike, the deadline will not move. we have powers -- we have o hours. by the end of today, i must take action on the senate compromise legislation. it is a legislation that would cut $2.50 trillion or the next decade and avoid default. it would protect social security and medicare without raising a

penny of revenue. will today's republicans break away from the shrill voice of the tea party and return to the republican party of ronald reagan? this is likely our last chance to save this nation from the fault. i have invited senator mcconnell to sit down with me in good faith knowing the clock is running down. i cannot do this alone. there are only 53 of us and under the rules republicans have put in place, a majority is not good enough. the rich -- the senate compromise bill is not perfect in the eyes of republicans. it is not perfect in the eyes of the democrats. together we must wait to work for all of us because it is the only option. the settlement on the table never give any party anything it wants but already reits -- meet

republican demands. john mccain has asked his party to compromise here in the senate floor. he said it is not fair for the american people to hold out and say we want to delay raising the debt limit. he called the radical republican approach unfair and bizarro. it is time we listened to the markets and listen to the american people and sit down and seriously negotiate. senator fred thompson, a republican, asked his own party to come to their senses. "i respectfully suggest you rate chips ur sh and come to the table."

my door is open. i will listen to any ideas to get this done in a way that prevents the fault and a dangerous downgrade to our country's credit rating. time is short and that is an understatement. too much is at stake to wait even one more minute. the last train is leaving the station. this is our last chance to avert default. a vote on this compromise will determine whether we enter the world of the fault. a vote for the senate compromise will be a vote for the financial obligations of this great country, to pay the bill. i would ask republican friends to break away from this thing going on in the house of representatives. they will -- they voted at 4: 30 yesterday, 6:30, 730 -- rumors are flying around. they said they put too much money in for pell grants and in

a balanced budget amendment. the speaker was seen in my office -- all these rumors. that made no sense. the scariest than its late last night, leader cantor said you have three choices -- boehner, cut, cap, and balance. that is the republican leadership saying that. we need to honor the financial obligations we have is a country. a vote against the compromise -- i have listed with the compromise is. no revenue, the congressional budget office has cited more than $2.40 trillion which will take us through march of 2013. we can do the country's business.

there's a joint committee we have set up to make sure we can do good work on more long-term approaches. we need to get back doing our country's business. i repeat -- cbo, omb has scored our bill for more than $2.40 trillion, not billions. that is dollar for dollar as the speaker said he wants to reduce the debt. a vote against this compromise will be a vote to default on the full faith of the credit of the united states. everyone within the sound of my boys, we have the framework of a bill. we will change. i have some ideas we need to change. if anyone has any other ideas, come to me. the time has come to make a decision. time factor is very clear.

there is no more time. i would like to wait until tomorrow to see of good will come so from the republicans but i would suggest to my friends and the other side of the aisle that this is a pretty good deal. they have gotten everything they wanted and should put those chips in their pocket and a clear victory. -- and declare victory. this is our last best chance to preserve the character and credit of our great nation. >> mr. president, i have a different take on what has been happening the past few days and my good friend the majority leader and his colleagues. let me explain was going on in congress this week. the american people have been waiting on us to do something to prevent default. the want us to end this crisis right now. over in the house of representatives, you have the speaker of the house doing his job.

speaker bayer has been doing the hard work of governing and working day and night to put together a bill back and actually passed the house of representatives and end this crisis now. he should be commended for his efforts. what about here in the senate? the contrast could not be starker. rather than working toward a solution over the last few days, the democratic majority in the senate has been wasting precious time rounding up no votes to keep this crisis alive. rather than being responsible and doing their duty and coming up with a bill that can actually pass, they have been busily signing people up for the not good enough caucus and getting opposition for everything else. lawmakers should be working a solution to the crisis not a blocking strategy. our democratic friends in the senate have offered no solutions to this crisis that could pass either chamber. , not one.

yesterday, we get a chest thumping comments about how we will kill any piece of legislation that comes from the house, dead on arrival. democrats are bragging about how they will prolong the crisis instead of doing the hard work in trying to solve it. that includes the president with the president had not decided to blow up the bipartisan solution that members of congress were to produce last weekend, we would be voting to end as crisis to that. democrats in congress are still talking about blocking a solution to the crisis and the president is rolling out new mileage standards to that limit repeat that -- here we are a few days from when the secretary of the treasury says we will be in a default situation and the president of united states is rolling out new mileage standards today. how about this? out a plan from democrats in washington that can pass both chambers, prevent the crisis and

prevent americans from a worsening economy? i would suggest to my friends and the other side that they take their responsibilities more seriously. the only people who are disregarding the consequences of defaults are senate democrats, not the republicans in the house. republicans have been doing the hard work of governing. this governing is about time our democratic friends join us. i yield the floor. >> albany, is this morning from senate leaders in the senate chamber. -- opening comments this morning from the senate leaders in the senate chamber. this is after the john boehner legislation failed to move forward early yesterday. senator dick durbin said we are now hearing the house will not get to its plan until the early evening hours. reporters say things are in the works and that support is shifting to john boehner and a balanced budget amendment.

the republicans will attach a balanced budget amendment to the last ditch that silly plan which gop lawmakers said would move the measure to passage in a high-stakes vote later friday. we're taking your calls and will continue to do so as we wait to hear from senate democrats. let's go to mary in moscow -- in massachusetts on our democrats line. caller: i have a couple of comments. how can you take the social security away from the elderly? i am disabled and i live with my mother. she is on social security and my disability is so low that i have to live with my mother because it would not pay the rent. they are threatening to take the social security and disability away from us. the only alternative we would have left it to go on welfare. where do think the money will come from?

it will come from the same place. it is a lose-lose situation, don't you think? why doesn't congress take a pay cut? maybe that would take people -- help the economy a little bit. democratss go to our line next in florida. caller: the house was the part of congress responsible for writing the legislation. it was then sent to the senate to concur with it. then the president either approved it or disapprove it. why are they sitting around waiting for the president to do their job? the congress should do their job. send it to the senate and they should compromise on it and see if the president will prove it. host: you are correct in the case of spending legislation. it originated in the house.

caller: i don't understand why they sit around and say they want the president to do something. it is not the president's place. that is why they are elected. host: fla., republican line, go ahead caller: they need to scrutinize people on unemployment. many people on unemployment are actually not going out looking for employment. they are falsifying where they are going to work and everything else and they are not going back and verifying their employment. in addition, congress and the president' is saying let's kill off everybody on disability and social security and that will save them a lot of money. this way, those that are rich can continue making babies and move on with the world. everyone who is disabled and on social security, let's kill those off and move on with the rich. i'm sorry, but i don't believe in that.

let's i kill off the disabled let's protect and save those of us on disability and social security and preserve those of us that have paid into the system and are working for the world. let's work as americans. host: we may get comments momentarily from the senators let's get another call in. we'll continue to take your calls after we hear from senators. independent line, good morning. caller: i have been listening to this. my opinion is i agree with the lady who was talking a minute ago that the republicans are sitting there saying that they don't want to budge or do anything about what they are doing. they want the democrats and the president to do well. they want to keep on living in

their high style. they don't want to be taxed. yet, they are buying yachts and houses and using the money for things that are not supposed to be using the money for. they want to cut out social security/disability, ssi and all that. i am on it. if they cut out social security and disability, i will not have it. i will not have tv or any food. they will cut my housing. they will have a big meeting in our building about this. another question -- i get paid on the first and the third. already --checks even if it goes down and they are scared everyone sells security, we will not get their checks. host: a couple of veterans call

this morning and said that their military pay has already come through. we are waiting outside the senate with reporters gathered to hear from democratic leaders. you can see harry reid is speaking on the senate floor now on c-span 2. once he is done, he will come out in front of reporters and take questions and possibly other leaders. while we wait for that to happen, we will continue with your calls. caller: texas, democrats line, go ahead. ason't know what is going on far as the welfare system. host: you are breaking up but it is tough to understand so we will let you go. in washington, republican line, what is your town? caller: parkersburg, west virginia.

i am watching best. this. i don't think people understand that we have not had a budget for two years before this. we need a budget. just like any household and our government should run the country like we would have to run our household. host: west virginia senator joe manchin announced his opposition to the john boehner plan and the harry reid plan. we understand the majority leader is off the senate floor and will come to the cameras shortly. let's go next to michigan, hi there. caller: this is war in in in new mexico. -- warren in new mexico. if you want to fix social security, there are major structural problems. the social security trust fund law that says any surplus in

the fund which currently has $2.60 trillion will go to the treasury. the fund is holding special issue securities that currently pay 4.6% interest to the fund but the fund has no cash. you need to look to the railroad retirement trust fund established at the same time as social security and how they have fought to keep the government out of the fund. in to look at who your trustees are of the fund that is supposed to be running it. secretary of the treasury tim geithner is also a managing trustee. these people have not been given free rein to run and managed this fund and they have a conflict of interest. no man can serve two masters. if you look to the railroad retirement trust fund and look at the diversified investments and the rate of return, they have not had this problem with

what is going on with the social security trust fund to. host: how much money are we talking about in the railroad trust fund? caller: i believe structural changes are beneficial because right now, all the money invested in the fund is in the federal government. they are writing all their money on one horse. host: 94 giving us your thoughts. the house yesterday fell to pass speaker boehner's plan on the debt ceiling and deficit- reduction. it is being reworked it today. we probably will see the house back in session later today. the house is in session and they are taking -- the senate is in session and we hope to hear from harry reid very soon. line, are you there? caller: i am here. i am beginning to think that neither the republicans or the

democrats know the meaning of the word compromise. i live on $500 per month that we have not gotten a raise in social security in three years. there are some months either i don't buy medication or don't pay bills like to grow -- buy groceries. shame on both houses for not putting their heads together and coming up with a compromise. who wants my bills and august 3 when i don't get my check? i will gladly send them all. line, what is the solution? caller: it is very simple. they will get their checks. pay attention to the information that you guys supply. they will get their checks for social security and medicare. unless the president decides not to do it. john boehner should never have touched this. he should have left the cut and

balance bill right where it was. it is a strategy. they have to eventually do something in the senate. leave it to them but we passed two bills already and that is enough. he will now tweak it and put the balance part in it. it will pass now and that is where it should have been to begin with. it will not pass in the senate. host: congressman jeff miller says -- you cannot tweets and comments of members in congress. look for the members of congress list on. twittercom. new hampshire, independent line. caller: quite frankly, the simple way to appease this whole situation is it is time this country starts taking care of

ourselves. i am a disabled viet nam veteran and i am tired of seeing our kids sent overseas. if we stop spending all our money overseas to police the entire world and get our heads into everybody else's business, we would have enough money in this country to take care of ourselves. host: would you say to cut it off entirely or drastically limit our foreign aid? caller: drastically limit it. it is absurd the money we're spending overseas not to mention the poor kids the way i was at one time getting maimed and seriously injured that we will have to pay for for the rest of their lives. it is an ongoing thing. we don't belong in these countries. my their own business and let's take care of ourselves. other countries are now coming to help us the way we have to help everybody else. we cannot afford to do this anymore. host: south boston on our

democrats line per caller: i agree with that gentleman. i call them penny pinching back for politicians. if they did not stick their nose in where did not belong -- president obama said if the republicans, the rich republicans and democrats could take a pay cut, that would help social security and would help the children in the united states. they should stop sticking their noses someplace else. we would be better off if these penny pinching back for politicians stop what they are doing and stop messing with our lives. i'm on social security disability and my husband is and we are just barely making it. i have to go and ask for money. that is wrong. host: thank-you for weighing in

with your thoughts. we're waiting for senate democrats. the senate has come back into session and they will consider the very proposal on the debt ceiling and deficit-reduction, the $2.20 trillion plan over the next 10 years. the john boehner plan did not move forward last night. they finished the debates and did not bring it to a a vote. one of the reports yesterday about who would be voting for the john boehner bill included a number of members from the south carolina republicans. they were opposed to it. it included tim scott who is a freshman representative from south carolina. he t justweeted ---

no indication about where he stands on a possible vote on the john boehner package later today. , if it comes back on the floor. we will wait along with reporters for senate democrats. our republican line, go ahead. caller: i would like to say that the cut, cap back, and balance bill was passed by congress and sent to the senate should be voted on. the republicans presented a bill and i think the senate should give it a chance. unless they are afraid it will pass. i don't know what the democrats in the senate what they think. nancy pelosi and harry reid are blocking passage of this perfectly good bill. it would be good for everybody. as far as social security s

, it is a special account and of people stop dipping into it, we would be taking care of. i am also on social security. i have given up a lot because of the high cost of living. if our cost of living and social security would be raised according to the real cost of livin in the country, that would be more fair. the government cannot do it. i have no argument with that. i cannot figure out why the senate does not at least put the bill cut, cap, and the balance. host: we will get back to your calls momentarily. this is a tweet from the house rules committee --

we don't know any further details on that and we will get them to you as soon as we can. let's go to cape cod, democrats line. caller: i am calling to let everybody know that i am a democrat but i believe the democrats and republicans should get along and vote on this together and pass it so we can get going. we have been sitting here for weeks and weeks. i think the republicans are separate from the democrats and they should get together and vote on it. thank you host: earlier today, world bank president robert zellick was speaking in washington and the tidy debt discussion into the world

economy. we want to show his brief comments as we wait for senators outside the senate chamber. >> as with many events like this, i think there is a short term and may be a bigger perspective. on the short-term perspective, people are playing with fire. the world bank is a pretty big and sophisticated financial a institution so we operate in markets or round the world. we and other financial institutions have to be trying to come up with a series of contingency plans, not just the first but also the second and third order and people have to recognize this is taking place in the context where you still have the euro zone in serious difficulties. they put together a package but it is an ongoing process. japan has been struggling to recover for a long time had a

terrible natural calamity. you have an environment that was already fragile and uncertain in coming out of the financial crisis which many of you know there was a food and fuel crisis before that. in an environment where the tools that people used in 2008, the standard tools of various spending and monetary policies, they have run their course. this is a context in which whatever once logic about the tactics, it is a very dangerous environment. to be blunt, to have a debt default of the united states were not only be a financial calamity, but it should be an embarrassment for every american. there is a medium and long term that i have spent time reflecting on. the bank has shareholders.

our primary shareholders are developing countries. the nature of recovery from crisis is multi-speed. in most of the developing countries, where i work, the challenge is now one where their growth has recovered so well that the danger is overheating or asset price bubbles. the developed countries are struggling with spending, debt, large-scale unemployment. this creates a tension in the international system. at the end of world war ii, people were trying to learn the lessons of economic calamity in the 1930's leading to world war ii. you need some system that deals with trade, development, exchange rates and capital security. that system is very much in a

state of flux because these emerging markets now represent half of global growth. in the 1990's the might of been 20%. this has happened relatively fast. the relevance of what is going on in washington or europe or tokyo these days is, people are trying to decide, what should be the norms, the rules, the expectations of this system. for people in the developing countries i work with, it is a little bit of a disappointment and frightening to see the united states, which some people have an admiration for, some people say it has been too pushy, but to see it basically sideline itself is a troublesome prospect whether you are in africa, china, india or others. the biggest picture here is a combination of dealing with the substance and -- with the

substantive challenges that europe, the u.s. and japan face, but also what role will we play in shaping the international system. if we have some incredible opportunities. we do not have to look at gloom and doom in this. there are lots of opportunities in africa. china has grown. it depends on how you look at the world, the pair are great opportunities, but they have to be seized and we -- but there are great opportunities, and i have to be seized. >> world bank president robert selleck earlier today. we are waiting to take you live in just a moment back to just outside the senate chamber. we're hoping to hear from senators following the caucus this morning with senator harry reid and others.

it looks like there will be taking up the deficit and debt reduction plan. it looks like they're dealing with morning business through 3:00 this afternoon. meanwhile, and the house side, the house rules committee will meet to take up the revised boehner package. here is a look at the revised bill. one of the sticking points was the inclusion of a balanced budget amendment. we will hope to get some coverage of that. meanwhile, we will continue with your calls. brenda, in st. louis. hello? port charlotte is next up. this is pam, republican. caller: you know, the majority

of the people in this country love this country, but they are embarrassed as to what is happening right now. why is it they have gone a hundred days without a balanced budget, but they have no problem giving themselves a $3,000 a month cost-of-living raise? they did that very, very fast without the majority of the american public knowing that. this is just a shame what is going on. host: judy in arkansas, independent line. what are your thoughts? caller: i think that we should hold the line and try to get our debt down, but the reason i called is in a 61-year-old widow on disability because i have cancer and i live with my mother who is 93. the other night the president came on and said that they may not pay social security if this

is not passed. it was such a terrible scare tactic. my mother came in and was very upset. i had to give her medication for her blood pressure and she has bought the $0.12 -- she has not been well since. the elderly who do not understand what is going on are terrified. if i had lost my mother that night -- which was very close to it -- there would be nothing i could do, and i think the president should be accountable for what he is doing to the elderly by terrifying them. i have been upset ever since trying to take care of my mother and trying to calm her down over this. i think it is despicable what the president has done to scare the american people. host: gregg and the democrats' line. hello?

ok, we go to romney, west virginia, republican line. this is gregg. caller: this makes you think back to when the colonies decided to separate from england and all of the bickering that was going back and forth. 13 colonies try to get everything set straight. in a roundabout way, i believe america will come out of this stronger. we have brought all these petty politics that the american people are finally starting to see, and it just goes to show you that every day in washington needs to be looked at. they need to stop this name calling, scare tactics tough -- stuff. i just hope that the american people will pray about this and get out and vote next year. if the house brings up the bill, bring it to the forefront and let members have a chance to vote.

but again, it is a great day to be american, because when all is said and done, we will be a stronger country. and host: a lot has happened behind closed doors, but we will hold -- we will show you the house rules committee meeting at 12:30 p.m. republican conference and the house side met earlier today. no comments from members after that. there is also a meeting this afternoon. house democrats are holding a closed caucus meeting this afternoon at 1:00. get a few more calls as we go to orlando, florida. this is the republican line. caller: i am 19 years old and it is very disappointing know that by the time i retire there will

be no social security. it is mainly due to mismanagement in our government of our funds, of our revenue. i think the way to increase revenues rather than increasing taxes is to increase the tariffs on our imports. we can increase american business. we can revitalize our american economy through american products and once again bring in revenue through taxes, and decrease unemployment dramatically, and have a stronger, more efficient -- i mean, there should be a little less regulation and actually i believe we should cut taxes on big corporations as well. that would also decrease unemployment. the republicans are only going

to approve a bill that cuts the amount of spending that they see fit. they're not going to cut a bill that increases the debt ceiling to allow more spending. they want to see an actual decrease in our spending amount. i do not think they are going to be satisfied in the house. that is all i really have to say. >> let's hear from the democrats' line. this is susan in kentucky. >> i am on social security as a bunch of other american people. i have to agree with the lady who was on a little while ago. if we lose our social security checks, what will the american people who is on social security and ssi have to do? move in with our loved ones because we have no money for our

rent, food, etc., or are we going to be put out on the streets? what will we have to do? the social security has not seen a cost-of-living raise in two or three years. cost of living has went up so high, and these democrats and republicans as well are playing ball. we are not children anymore. we cannot play games. we need to come to the bottom of this before the august 2nd deadline so that we as american people will know whether we are going to be funded with our money, which we are entitled to. we worked all of our lives. repay all of this money in and we are not going to receive our money back? that is unfair.

host: let's go to rich in florida on the republican line. caller: my comments regarding the senate's failure to pass any sort of a budget for three years. why is now holding harry reid c to the fire on this? isn't there a federal -- feet to the fire on this? isn't there a federal law that requires him to pass something for the president to sign? i think maybe the senate ought to be held in contempt of congress because they did not do what they are required to by law. also, i would like to comment on brandon park, last night on the hannah deprogram -- hannity suggested freezing spending for six years and reducing by 1% for the same six

years the amount of spending that the congress can do. host: i am going to let you go there. it looks like somebody is going to come out to the camera. cameras are at the ready. microphones are at the ready. if you're just tuning in, this is just a side the senate chamber. we're waiting to hear from senate democrats. the house mel to move forward -- has failed to move forward with john boehner plan last night. there reworking a bill. we'll have the rules committee today at 12:50 p.m. >> since we finished our caucus, i have had the chance to speak to leader policy and leader hoyer. there's -- nancy pelosi and

steny hoyer. they're still waiting to figure out what is happening are there. we have said for weeks now that we will not except a short-term increase of the debt. we just cannot do that. and now, from what i learned from the two democratic leaders in the house, they put even more stuff in this right wing meaning bill -- leaning bill that is called the boehner plant. it is really hard to comprehend. the confusion that they had over there and they're still having today. it is really time that they legislate. as we know, they're having trouble doing that.

they've changed this so many times, it should be fairly easy to get the votes now. they have given the right wing even more than what they had before. in the senate, we of proposed compromise. -- have proposed compromise. as fred thompson said, the republicans have gotten what they wanted. they should put their chips in their pocket and go home and declare victory. what we have now as our amendment is one that reduces the debt, extends the debt ceiling until march of 2013. cdo has scored it. it has raised the number to -- c bo has scored it. it has raised the number to $

2.4 trillion. i'm asking the republican leaders to give me ideas as to what will improve the legislation. keep in mind that there will be no agreement if it is a short- term extension. we're not going to do that and my caucus supports of fully. right now, this is the only compromise there is. obviously, obviously, what is being done in the house is not compromise. it is being jammed through with all kinds of non transparent dealings, people shuffling in and out of the republican leader's office. we're recognizing that the only compromise that there is his mind. this is truly bipartisan piece of legislation. the republicans realize that. i had a number of republicans come to me. i had one republican come and say thank you for your

legislation. we and meetings with a number of republicans last night -- had meetings with a number of republicans last night, various senators, and their concern that we do not have more of a compromise. i repeat, i asked my friend senator mcconnell to meet with me to try to work this out. i am confident he will, i hope, come back with some suggestions that he has. the stakes could not be higher. the security of our nation, literally the security of our nation, every family is at stake here. if the debt ceiling is not increased, every american family will feel an increase in their taxes in various ways, higher payments on all of their debts, credit card, loans to have taken out to put their kids through school, car payments, mortgages on their houses, so i say to my

republican colleagues in the senate, due to -- to the right thing. but the country ahead of tea party politics. these are the people that made all these demands. the people we all represent one us to come together in a bipartisan method -- want us to come together in a bipartisan message. compromise is not a bad word. we hold our arms out to my republican colleagues. talk to me on how we can strengthen my legislation. senator durbin. >> thank you. on monday night, and we had an announcement and a message to the united states from speaker john boehner. remember what he told us? he had a bipartisan plan he was going to pass in the house of representatives. what happened on tuesday? it turned out it was not a partisan. the only negotiation this entire week has been with other republicans. and he did not have a plan. by tuesday, they announced he

could not call a vote. maybe wednesday. no, wednesday they could not call a vote. then on thursday again, they fail to have the majority to call a vote. we waited until late last night until we were told that sometime later today speaker boehner may have rounded up enough republican votes to pass his plan. it is clearly not bipartisan, and when you look closely at it, it is not right with america. because by negotiating with the most extreme voices in his caucus, he is leaving to positions that are almost indescribable. the latest report that we have is that to win the last holdouts on the tea party, he had to agree to a significant and historic change. it is not enough that they're willing to hold our economy hostage with the debt ceiling extension. it is not enough that we stop the working of this government on so many issues we should be working on. but now, now the speaker has

brought in the requirement that to extend the debt ceiling we have to amend the constitution of the united states of america. this is the most every the suggestion i have heard. to think that those of us who have sworn -- most outrageous suggestion i have heard. to think that those of us to a sworn to uphold the constitution, to say that we cannot give this economy forward without changing the constitution as a requirement in law, i wish robert byrd was still here. he would be on the floor with the constitution in hand and remind people about the humility we should show when it comes to this great document. there has to be another way. the way to approach this in a bipartisan, responsible way, is to start with majority leader reads -- harry reid's suggestion. he is offering an olive branch to the republicans to work

together for a bipartisan solution that is sensible and timely and it moves forward. i hope senator mcconnell will join him. i hope we can find that path forward. we do not want to put america through this every three, four, five, six months. we owe it to the people we represent and to the economy and to the constitution to do much better. >> thank you. i want to thank senator reid for his leadership during these difficult times. with only four days until catastrophic to fall, the house continues to waste time. -- default, the house continues to waste time. the senate cannot wait on the house any longer. speaker boehner should just give it up. he throws piece after piece of red meat to the right wing alliance that seem to dominate his caucus. it is time he tames that line and for the good of the country. to get his conservatives back on

the reservation at this point, he is adding all kinds of unrealistic poison pills to his plan. his new plan, requiring that each house of congress not vote on the past -- not to vote on but pass a balanced budget amendment before any debt ceiling is raised will guarantee a default. it would not just make it likely, it would guarantee a default. the boehner proposals as we will not default now, but we promise you we -- proposal says we will not default now, but we promise you we will default by january. it is absurd to believe that outside of the house caucus anyone takes it seriously. only the senate plan provides hope for a way out of this impasse. later today, senator reid will set a plan in motion for a late

senate plan on the as the last best option to avert a default. since it will be the last train leaving the stations, we expect senate republicans to give it a long, careful look. it would be hard to imagine that the republicans in the senate would actually filibuster the nation into a default. leader mcconnell has kept a low profile in recent days out of loyalty to speaker boehner, but he now needs to step up and help move the process forward. the time for providing cover for the speaker is over. a nation hangs in the balance. we need senator mcconnell to become engaged. the ball is in his court and only in his court. we hope a deal can be had by day's end. if not, senator reid is right to move ahead with his plan, which

already is a compromise. it gives the republicans the two major things they ask for, and no revenues, and enough cuts to equal the amount we raise the debt ceiling. this would be set up -- this would set up a vote just after midnight on saturday night. that vote would be the bow -- would be the vote to avert default. a yes vote is a vote to be responsible. vote fore is a n economic catastrophe. >> like everyone, i am getting a lot of calls from extremely concerned families, veterans and business owners in my state who are seriously worried that we will default in this country or that moody's will downgrade us and interest rates will go up

and every single family will be impacted. everyone wants us to work to a compromise. what we do not want to do is be back in this same situation right before the december holidays when retailers are counting on families to be able to do their holiday shopping. we cannot be in this situation at that time. that is why we are saying it is time to come to a bipartisan solution to move us to a longer time so that we can get back and get on track, bring certainty to our businesses, our families, all of this country, and start moving us toward the goal of creating jobs and getting our economy back on track. that is why it is so important that we have a long-term goal. what all of my constituents are saying is can you work together to solve this. that is why it is so disheartening to me this morning that after all this week

watching speaker boehner trying to get this bill to the floor that he is moving now not to reach out his hand to say how do i get democratic votes, they're reaching out his hand to say how do i get the more conservative votes in his party. and that is a move that will not get as to a bipartisan bill that is acceptable to this country or this congress. i want to commend senator reid and our caucus for being where we are today. we have moved forward a great deal toward a bipartisan approach. we have given up a request to have revenues be a part of this package. we a given in to the understanding that we're going to have to make cuts far beyond what most of us are comfortable with. and now senator reed has said to mitch mcconnell, come to me with what you need in order to get this passed and a bipartisan manner. that is how we're going to come

to a resolution. we are at a critical point and i urge our republican colleagues to move towards this so we can get past this extremely frightening moment in our country. >> last weekend, nancy pelosi, john boehner, mitch mcconnell and i sat down and try to work through something. frankly, during the discussions, it got worse rather than better. we felt there should be reasonable cuts with defense. they came back after working one day on it with an increase in defense spending. yes, we met. in answer to your question, no. we have said from the very, very beginning that we will not accept a six month extension.

said the from the very beginning. that was said all last weekend. the answer is no. >> [inaudible] >> we consider that. the problem is at this point we have not had a single republican come forward and say they would be willing to do something like that, not one. i am anxious to talk to people about how we should move forward. i have invited the republicans to call me, come see me. in a number of democrats coming in to see me this afternoon -- i have a number of democrats coming in to see me this afternoon. i am happy to look at alternatives. >> i know you will not change the short-term nature of the extension, but how else could the bill be changed? >> i have some ideas i think that are certainly ideas that i have gotten from republicans. those are waiting to be done.

i am not going to move forward until i have every belief that the republicans have had all the time they need to give me the ideas they have. if they do not give me any, i will do it on my own. >> you're asking senator mcconnell to come to you. >> i will go to him. >> are you shopping his ideas around? >> we need him to come today. i need something now. after a file something -- the house is not the only location of extremists, you know. >> are you shopping this directly around to republican rank and file? >> i do not know what rank-and- file means, the republicans.

only by unanimous consent. the overseas contingency fund has been scored by omb and scored by the cbo. it has been voted 230 + republicans have voted for it. 40 republicans in the senate voted for it. the answer is no. this is part of their budget, and you know, sometimes people try to pull the will over people's eyes with numbers -- over people's eyes with numbers, but i've never figured out how to do it with cdo. is the cbo who did this. >> senator mcconnell has a

fallback proposal. do you see marrying some version of his proposal -- >> i'm happy to talk to him about that. i thought it was a courageous thing he did. i will look at it, but i want to have the republicans look at my proposal to see how it could be changed. that is one way it could be done. >> [inaudible] >> if that is something the republicans would like, i will take a look at it, sure. the only extension i have talked about would be after the first of the year, 2013. >> 2012? >> no, no, no. we cannot be in this battle all the time. right now, extremists have

locked down this congress. they're doing nothing. extremists have locked down the white house. the country is in an economic malaise. we cannot keep this up. i am somewhat flabbergasted at people who were elected to the house of representatives, a body in which i served, where i worked under the guidance of tip o'neill and jim wright, democrats and republicans, that is how we worked together. that is how things got done. that is how we solve the social security issue. i cannot imagine people a elected to the police were henry clay worked and others worked, would be so driven by ideology and willing to compromise on anything listen -- on anything. listen, i have democrats who want a balanced budget

amendment. i'm not standing in line to see how many times we can amend the constitution, but if people want to vote on that, fine. but the senator schumer pointed out, to show the extremism of these people, the extremism of these people, they're not satisfied with a vote. they want a guarantee that it is passed before they will allow an extension to the debt limit. how bizarre can anyone be? >> live coverage of senate democratic leaders. they're taking up a debt and deficit reduction plan. meanwhile, the house will reconsider john boehner is planned. it is being reworked and will be before the rules committee and about 15 minutes.

we'll have that live for you on c-span. you can follow the senate on c- span2. also, every week and we bring you our "newsmakers" program on sunday mornings. this week, we will bring you more comments on the debt discussions on capitol hill. our guest commented on what it this -- what this means to the state of iowa and with the tea party brings to the debate. >> i, like governors all across the country, have made tough decisions and balanced the state budget. i miss -- i was in a real financial mess when i came to state office last year. we went through a long and tough session, but we got that accomplished. we passed a two-year, not a one- year budget for a long budget

for the first time in a long, long time. we're spending less than we spent last year. the federal government is spending weigh more than it is taking in. i think only $0.60 of every dollar is coming from revenue and the rest is barred. that is a recipe for it -- borrowed. that is a recipe for disaster and everything about that needs to change. the federal government obviously needs to put together a plan that is going to reduce the debt and not just extend the debt ceiling, but actually put us on a path to restoring fiscal responsibility in our nation. >> that will take the votes of both republicans and democrats given the difference in power between the house and senate. what are the consequences for your state and other states if this does not get done by tuesday?

>> we do not know exactly what the consequences are. first of all, i do not think scare tactics make a lot of sense. i think we need to work together to resolve these issues. when the state of iowa was facing a potential shutdown, i said we are going to do everything we can to provide services the best we can. fortunately, the legislature came through and ended up reaching an agreement on the budget. i have a split legislature just like the congress is split. it was not an easy process, but we got the job done. it was close to the deadline, but we got it accomplished. i expect congress to resolve this as well. >> do you think he party conservatives in the house have been too -- a tea party conservatives in the house have been too unwilling to compromise? >> i think people elected in 2010 came in with the real message from the voters. they needed to dramatically

change washington. it cannot be business as usual. i think they come in with the real message from their constituents and feel strongly that things need to change. a saud democratic congress and before that a republican -- they saw a democratic congress, and before that a republican congress, both of them spending way more than they were taking in. we had all these bailouts and all this spending and the health care plan. people could see this was not affordable, not sustainable. we need to change direction in this country. >> do you think they should continue to hold out for the terms they have been asking for even if that pushes us past tuesday? >> i do not know the details of the terms of all the different plans in washington, d.c. i does know that if you look around the country and the

states, look at what chris christie did in new jersey and what bob mcdonald did in virginia, governors in both parties have been reducing the size and cost of government and putting state governments on a path to sustainability. that is what needs to happen in washington, d.c. as well. >> you will see that this sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern, provided that the u.s. house is not in session on sunday, because that is a strong likelihood as well. senator schumer a few minutes ago talked about the weekend votes. we can tell you that the house rules committee will be meeting in about 10 minutes or so. when they get under way, we will have that live for you on c-

span. that presumes that the house will be meeting later today. the headline is, boehner builds momentum with house budget amendment. republican leaders plan to tie an amendment to the constitution to their bill that is turning momentum back to speaker boehner's plan. let's get a few more of your thoughts. we appreciate you waiting patiently. to the republican line in illinois. hello. caller: in fabric, 2009, president obama stated that -- february, 2009, president obama stated that elections have consequences and that he won. well, in 2010, republicans won overwhelmingly, and i think they deserve kudos for sticking to what they said they were going to do.

secondly, if harry reid's plan is so great, why did he not introduce it earlier? he is waiting for republicans to do all the work. lastly, i am really upset at all the demagoguery and scare tactics being used by the democrats to scare the elderly into thinking they're not going to get their social security checks. >host: california, democrat lin. caller: i was watching this presentation by the leaders of the democrats. scare tactics are not going to get us nowhere. i think they're lying to the american people when they use the word compromise. compromise does not mean -- host: i think we have lost him.

oklahoma, republican line. caller: good morning. well, one thing is, the cat, cap and balance bill, harry reid knocked that down basically on the basis of the balance. the democrats do not want the balanced budget amendment. one thing i should say, i was a democrat for 37 years. now i am an independent. host: what turn you away from the democratic party? caller: the health care bill for one. nancy pelosi saying we have to read the bill before we pass it. harry reid's poetry festival money that he brought up. the transparency obama promised but we do not see is the reason

i am no longer a democrat. we need to have a balanced budget amendment. neither party in this country has the will to cut spending. both parties have done it. they continue to do it. it has got to stop. host: does your state have a state balanced budget amendment? caller: yes. host: washington state, independent line. caller: i of been following this debate for some time. as far as i'm concerned, it is nothing but a political circus. these people are so busy going at each other that i am really concerned that they cannot bring back their focus on the problems that are real in terms of making the best possible decision for people out here rather than the political views represented by a their own parties.

this whole process has really turned into a disgusting thing to me. process. host: one more call, let's go to georgia and the democrats' line. caller: i am living below the poverty level on ssi. i get food stamps. there are so many people living under the poverty level, it breaks my heart that my nation is falling apart and squabbling like spoiled children. we need to get behind our president because the people are tired of this division. obama is thinking of the little man too when he says that he wants the people with money to be able to pay off the debt just as much as everyone else. with the small people, we helped

put this man in office because we were ready for change. host: we appreciate you joining the conversation this afternoon. thank you to all of the calls. you can join us every day at 7:00 a.m. on "washington journal." in just a few minutes we will take you live to the house rules committee. there meeting to consider the revised boehner plan. eric cantor now says republicans have enough votes to pass the debt ceiling plan in the house. that is from the "wall street journal." if you go to our website, you can follow some of the latest. before we go to the rules committee meeting, we will go to comments from this morning's "washington journal." joe walsh joined us. we will show you what we can until the house rules committee comes in. this friday morning, as we're

in the midst of the debt negotiations here in washington, congressman joe walsh, republican of illinois' eighth district. he's a freshman member, republican, aligned with the tea party thinking in congress, and you are a no vote on the plan? guest: i am a no vote. host: why? guest: i take a contrarian view. it was interesting listening to some of your callers earlier to what's going on right now. i actually am quite positive with what's going on up on that hill right now. this is democracy at work. there are a lot of strong feelings all the way around. i think everybody's trying to work something out. you know, for me, i just think this country is falling off a financial cliff. republicans were sent to congress to try to make sure we come up with some solution so we're not having this conversation again. so i give my leadership all the credit in the world, because i've been pretty clear in what i think.

i don't think the white house has been serious. the senate democrats haven't passed a budget in two years. john boehner and eric cantor are the only sort of leadership team up here that's really been trying to craft something. it's difficult. host: how concerned are you about the august 2 deadline? guest: i've never been obsessed with august 2. i've been obsessed with getting this right. i think the president made a mistake early on when he focused so hard on august 2 and tried to scare folks, this notion of default. nobody wants default, and we won't default on august 3. he knows that. the notion of i may not be able to cut social security checks on august 2, he knows that's not true. if it takes a few days, at this historic time to get this right, let's do it. and i think if that had been our focus three months ago, we'd be in a better place right now. host: i found an op-ed piece this morning in the "washington times", can remake the

political landscape in 2012. he's looking forward to the next election, chairman of the american conservative union. he writes, unfortunately we must also be realistic. at the end of the day, when we currently control just 1/3 of the formula, conserve activities will not see our ideal bill passed this year. in exchange for a short-term solution, we must hold the line against new taxes and spending. we should support mr. boehner and our leadership who have gone toe-to-toe with the president and liberals in congress on a temporary deal that will meet these two criteria and prevent carte blanche increases in the debt limit. conservatives in the senate should stand strong behind the two-step plan that passed the house and force harry reid to take this legislation to mr. obama's desk. while imperfect, it's viable, it doesn't raise taxes, and keeps check's authority on the debt limit. what would you say? guest: we all support our speaker. we appreciate what he's doing. what we've been trying to do is pull him and pull our

conference and pull the entire debate in a bold direction. trying to get as much as we can, again, to make sure we never get here. there's this notion of a balanced budget amendment, which 70% of the american people support. virtually every republican supports. truthfully, most democrats support. i think that's the kind of systematic reform that a lot of us really want to see in order to raise the debt ceiling. i think we've got an historic time right now to try to do it. we're trying to tug folks in that direction. host: respond to the progressives and liberals who argue that the fragile economy cannot stand a bold move right now, that, in fact, it will have a deleterious effect on the struggling economy. guest: i just think that's such a mis-read. it's always confusing when you're here and you're in the bubble. the crisis is our debt crisis. we have a government we can't afford.

we have a government that's borrowing money, millions every second. that's the crisis. and we're so worked up about this debt ceiling debate. if we don't do something about that crisis, and we've got a small window, future generations will never forgive us. we have an opportunity right now to try to do something as bold as we can. and i think there are a number of us that just believe the boehner plan isn't bold enough, and we're just, again, trying to tug him in a direction. host: so how do you see the next couple of days play out? guest: i'm just a freshman. i don't know. susan, you can answer that question. look, again, i take a contrarian view. i think this is wonderful. i wish the entire country were watching this and glued to this. look, the american people woke up to a large degree. the president won fair and square three years ago. for some reason, they sent republicans to congress.

this is, i believe -- i said this during the campaign -- i think we're going through a revolution in this country. it's a good thing. i hope everybody's paying attention to what's going on here. i respect all your callers, but don't get down. this is our country at work. we'll work out something. host: sense your views were already known, were you subject to a lot of lobbying yesterday? guest: yes. we all have them, and, again, i'm a freshman. it's an interesting process. i've been surprised at how respectful and genuine it's been from john boehner all the way down. the stakes are big, and we've all good our principles, and there hasn't been kicking and elbowing. it's been a respectful process. host: a couple of members have decided to change their vote. are there a couple of members for whom they are a benchmark for you? if they say yes, you'll probably join them. guest: you know, good question. there are so many members up

there that i respect and look to. my benchmarks are my god, my constituency, and my principles , balanced with, again, the political reality and what can get done. i'm really guided by what's best, and that's the country. host: we have a facebook page open. you can tweet us. and good, old-fashioned email, we'll take those as well. and we welcome your questions or comments for freshman congressman joe walsh. before we get to calls, mr. walsh, there is a story about your personal life in the news. we're getting twitter comments and facebook comments about it. it's about the child support lawsuit from your former spouse. tell us what's going on and what your position is on it. guest: again, i know this sort of broke, it wasn't new to me, only in that this was a case that was filed sometime ago.

and again, it's a personal family matter that involves my kids, and i'm hoping that we can work it out in the next -- as soon as we can, so that our kids, my kids, my kids and my former wife's kids are not thrown into this. so it's something we hope to work out. host: i was reading on your web sited. are you suggesting that there's a curious timing about this coming out now? are you suggesting there are political motivations? guest: it's odd to me -- again, this is all -- it's odd to me that a case that was filed eight months ago about a marriage that ended eight years ago is a story now. there's a local chicago paper that just seems to have a thing for me. i've been very outspoken in what i think about this debate. i've been very outspoken about what i think for this president.

i've been very outspoke been what i think about this debt crisis. i have no doubt that there are some folks who are trying to hit me and knock me. but, look, this is part of the business. i got into this when i ran last year, susan, i felt like -- i felt like i was naked for a year. i had lost a home. i financially struggled, like a lot of americans had, and i walked around and talked about all that with everyone t. just is very odd to me that a very outspoken freshman right now is very hit with this other stuff that's been out there for a while, and we've been quietly trying to work through. host: what was your business before coming to congress? guest: i did a lot of different things. i was a teacher. i worked in the nonprofit world for a long time. i tried my hand at a little bit of private sector investment and banking, capital raising, sort of a number of different things.

i hope ferry much we can begin the effort of bipartisanship with this process right here in the rules committee. i hope my colleagues will support it. support it. >> i would like to do that. i think this needs to be said as many times as we can say it. this is done by an expert economist. he says, a basic point of this is a crisis, we have manufactured out of whole cloth. the critic the circumstance in which the world delts our credibility, down ridding our debt and the dollar's role as the world's currency could be jeopardized. please understand of these things are happening because the united states is running a deficit.

there was no indication the united states was having difficulty borrowing money to month ago. in fact, more cheaply than ever before. we face downgrades and investor panic because we are behaving like deadbeats. we need to pay our bills while the bill collectors found at the door his opinion is, it is taken great erosion of the confidence. i think it is a part of the said. talk about your amendment, i understand this had begun to get more votes but the fact of what we have said here is the debt limit is raised for what? before the second vote, it has

to send a proposed amendment to the constitution of the nine states person to a joint resolution. why do you think the senate or this congress will pass the balanced budget? >> as my friend knows, i think anyone who can predict what the united states senate will do -- >> they told us. >> they told us? >> i heard again this morning, they said some kind of double- >> you never know what happens in the legislative process. and never thought we would be sitting here doing what we're doing today. >> i will say i cannot predict with the united states senate is going to do. the speaker of the house of representatives has worked hard in good faith in an attempt to put together a bipartisan agreement. it has fallen apart. >> i have to say, i do not know where the bipartisan thing comes from